Blaze's Decision
by Furyshield
Summary: Blaze is pressured to choose a suitor to be her husband so she can ascend to the throne, but a sudden trip to Sonic's dimension makes that choice all the more interesting. Will she make it back in time to become queen? Who will she choose as her future husband? Read and review!
1. Sonic 06 Does Not Exist

And here's a new story! This will mostly just be a side project for me, and will be updated less often than Learning to Love Again, my other story. Even less so, because I have exams going on at the time. I've always wanted to write a story about Blaze, as she seemed like an intriguing character. This is going to be a bit different than a typical romance story, but that will show itself more as the story unfolds. I intentionally avoided putting a second character in the title to constitute a pairing to not spoil the story, but also because I haven't made a clear-cut decision about who Blaze will or won't end up with. And now, for something completely different!

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A light shade of pink began to color the previous night's sky as the sun peeked over the horizon. The enormous yellow ball brought with it a shade of orange as it spied down on the mostly-sleeping citizens of the Sol Dimension. Few were awake at this hour, but everyone that was was at the royal castle. One of them in particular loved watching the sun rise, partly because of its brilliant and fiery colors, partly because it signified a new day, a new beginning. Blaze the Cat had a soft smile on her face, her golden eyes lighting up with the reflection of the sun as it slowly came out of its hiding place. She liked the serenity of the early morning; she was alone with her thoughts, at least for a moment. The moment did not last long, though, as she heard a knock at her door. Sighing and shaking her head, she strode through her lavish room, certainly fit for the princess she was. A bed large enough for an entire family, draped in purple sheets, was supported by four wooden posts with intricate carvings going ten feet above the bed itself, with a wooden overhang, on the underside of which had a carving of the seven Sol Emeralds and a large flame in the center, as if to tell a story to be read or a warning to be heeded. A bright red carpet with mesmerizing curves and swirls done in golden thread. "One moment, please. . ." She called out to whoever was knocking. She straightened the covers on her bed, then strolled over to her closet, which was just as large and breathtaking as everything else in the room. She gave a slight grin and shook her head. _I don't need this much room just for simple clothes. . . but at least it's nice to look at. _Opening it up, she found an assortment of white, pink, purple, red, and gold garments. Shoes, pants, skirts, and formal dresses lined the walls, but Blaze chose something simper that morning, a pink jacket with purple leggings, and red shoes. She took a moment to adjust her appearance in the full-length mirror that lay next to the closet. With a soft nod of approval, she walked to the door and slowly opened it to see Gardon, her royal guard. "Oh! Good morning, Gardon. I am sorry to have kept you waiting."

"That's quite all right, princess." Gardon gave a bow of respect, and the corner of Blaze's mouth twitched. She was never one for being referred to as royalty, or treated like she was better than anyone else. "I just came here to remind you of the royal dinner later tonight in the castle. There will be plenty of suitors there. . ." At this, Blaze visibly rolled her eyes. Gardon noticed this and sighed. "I'm sorry, princess, but you must choose someone to wed so that you may lead this world as king and queen. I know you don't like the idea, and I understand, but you have until your eighteenth birthday to choose who to marry." That was six months from now, but Blaze did not see any suitor that she truly loved. All of them wanted to be with her for the status and riches that came along with it. She cleared her throat and shook her head so slightly it was barely visible.

"I will see what I can do, Gardon. . . in the meantime, I am going to meditate to prepare for the day." She strode off quickly down the castle's vast stone halls, giving Gardon a nod as she passed him by.

"Princess. . ." Gardon turned and took a step towards Blaze after she had passed him.

"Yes, Gardon?" Blaze glanced back at Gardon. She was getting irritated, but hid it well.

"I only press that issue with you because I believe that you are the best choice to lead this world. . ." Gardon's face showed no emotion, but Blaze still stared at him intently, eventually smiling at him again. The two of them had known each other for years, and through all the political discussions and formal occasions Blaze had to attend, she had gotten very good at telling when people were lying, and she knew Gardon was being sincere.

"Thank you, Gardon. I will see you at lunch." Blaze tried to give a friendly wave good-bye, but it came out looking rigid and forced. She sighed as she wandered through the castle to her favorite exit. All the main passageways in the castle looked extravagant, with carpet much the same as the one in Blaze's room showing the way, and torches lit the walls even during the day to show the fiery resistance of the kingdom. Portraits of kings and queens past were hung on the walls of the dining room and leading to the king and queen's chambers. Simple carvings were done in stone to honor royalty that passed on, as well as the guardians who had came before Blaze. Blaze had decided to take some of the side hallways, which were far more simple in their construction and aesthetics, and this particular one took her over the castle grounds. If the soldiers were out training, she could have seen them, but even most of the soldiers did not rise this early. The training weapons and dummies were strewn about the grounds haphazardly, but Blaze paid them no mind, instead going to the stone steps that led down to just outside the castle walls. Not only was it the most direct way to the cave that held the Sol Emeralds, which was her favorite meditation spot, it was rarely used by anyone else, and because she would often be out before the soldiers started to train, hardly anyone ever saw her going to the cave. She preferred it that way, not only through her desire to be secluded, but also, it would be difficult to attack her or steal the Sol Emeralds if a potential thief did not know where they were.

There was no apparent path to travel to the Sol Emeralds' resting place. No beaten path, no significant landmarks. The proper way to get to the cave, as well as the way to find the Sol Emeralds once there, was passed down from guardian to guardian. After a quick trek through the barren part of the castle grounds, Blaze came upon a less dense part of a nearby forest. An unlikely place for hiding the most powerful objects in the entire dimension, but Blaze knew she was on the right track. She deftly wove through the trees, her eyes alert for any potential predators or thieves, but none came. This part of the forest looked as though it had seen a harsh summer, with browning leaves, if there were any on the tree to begin with, and the plants on the ground wilting and dying. Blaze always had a frown on her face when she walked through this place, preferring a more vibrant surrounding, but she knew why this was done: to hide the emeralds in an inconspicuous place. She noticed a sparrow flying through the trees and smiled as the sparrow chirped its song. It was more peaceful out here than in the castle, a reprieve that she appreciated, and came to depend on since her time to be forced to choose a suitor to rule alongside her as king was drawing closer. Since she slowed down slightly to notice the sparrow, the cold morning air finally caught up with her, and she shivered. _Come on, Blaze, focus. . . you must get to the emeralds and meditate. . . _She huffed, her breath visible in the air, and picked up the pace. She broke into a brisk jog, deciding to warm herself up while she went to the emeralds. Since she knew the area was safe, she decided to have a bit of fun as well, jumping off of the trunks, moving from tree to tree and branch to branch, her eyes still on watch and her tail swishing behind her. She spotted an area up ahead where there were fewer trees, but just barely. The area would still be inconspicuous, but Blaze knew better. She leapt from her resting place on a branch and landed quietly on the brown grass. After a quick glance behind to check for pursuers, she calmly wandered towards her target, a rock formation that would look to anyone else like a small, well-formed pile of rubble. However, this rubble could not be moved, and hid a great secret. With one final spin around finding no one, Blaze knelt down in front of the rubble and whispered to it. "I am Blaze the Cat, heir to the throne, and guardian of the Sol Emeralds."

Nothing happened, but Blaze did not move a muscle. Ten seconds passed, and she felt the earth start to move under her feet. She jumped backwards as a fissure appeared in the ground and expanded outwards quickly. She stuck a precision landing, and held still as the fissure came towards her, only to have it stop inches from her feet. _I'll never get used to that. . . _She exhaled and looked down into the darkness, lighting a flame in her hand to show the way. The cave was made entirely of natural earth and stone, with no light to speak of, but Blaze's flame had that covered. As she confidently walked down the steps into the actual cave, she began to take deep breaths, calming herself in preparation to meditate. She closed her eyes for a moment to help calm herself further, and opened them to see seven paths around her. Most would think one emerald would be at the end of each path, but this arrangement was very different. Six paths had natural traps that would lead to certain death for anyone who walked in, typically through means of cave-ins or giant boulders. The center path out of all seven was correct, but a good guess was not all that was needed to enter. When a guardian of the Sol Emeralds was around them enough, they had an undetectable aura of chaos energy around them, marked with the signature of the Sol Emeralds. This had only one function: to prove to the Sol Emeralds themselves that they were the rightful guardian. Without it, the emeralds would either not function, or, if a thief tried to take them by force, the emeralds would expel them away and hit them with a blast of energy strong enough to kill most Mobians. The prior guardian would enter with the new guardian and train them around the Sol Emeralds to give them this aura, or, when they died, they could transfer the aura to a candidate they found worthy. The latter was what had happened with Blaze. She had heard legends of the prior guardian, but had never met them in person. Every morning, as she walked through the cave, she remembered when the disembodied voice of the former guardian had bestowed guardianship upon her.

Blaze used to scoff at her new abilities and powers as a guardian being called blessings, but after meeting Sonic and his friends in another dimension, that all changed. She reminisced about the times they shared as she wandered through the cave. Her flame in her hand still lit the way, revealing the smooth, brown stone of the cave. Her light footsteps echoed off the walls until a change in volume told her the area ahead was widening. She saw the different colors of light coming from the Sol Emeralds being reflected off the walls, mentally counted to seven, then smiled as she saw all the emeralds were present. The dead-end was round, and a perfect hemisphere, with the top about fifteen feet off the ground. The Sol Emeralds lay equidistant from the center, six feet away, and Blaze gently stepped in between the cyan and green emeralds. She sat down, cross-legged, bowed her head, and closed her eyes. With a deep breath, the emeralds started to rise around her. They hovered around her head, and the energy emanating from them created a barrier around Blaze. The colors of the emeralds formed a visual shield, with the colors dancing around each other. Blaze did not open her eyes until she heard the emeralds spinning around her. She knew something was very wrong if the emeralds were reacting so strongly, but she also knew she was not followed, so it could not have been an intruder. _What's going on? _Blaze glanced around, then banged against the barrier with her fists, but the barrier was too strong for her to break through. The emeralds spun faster and faster, and Blaze's eyes went wide with panic. Her tail began to swish back and forth quickly, and her mouth hung open with fear as she tried to figure out what this all meant. Her answer came soon enough when she stopped seeing the cave and started seeing what looked like the inside of a neon purple and white tunnel. The small amount of solace she had when she remembered she was still protected by the Sol Emeralds disappeared when the barrier did. The tunnel itself turned and she gasped as she felt herself falling. Before she knew it, she was thrust into a place she could not recognize because she was moving too fast, with green and brown blurs whizzing past her as she went towards the ground.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !" Blaze hit the ground with a sickening thud and was knocked unconscious on the spot.


	2. There Are ALWAYS Chao In My Stories

I'm still alive! Blah blah blah finals, blah blah blah other story, and I'm catching up on Dr. Who at ridiculous speeds. All those and longer chapters meant this take a while to come out, but I am writing my next chapter for Learning to Love Again.

I don't own any of the characters here, SEGA owns them all.

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A familiar blue hero was off on one of his runs meant to relax him. With no real destination and no time he needed to be anywhere, he decided to go exploring. After leaving his house and dashing past Station Square, viewing the ocean as he ran by from what he judged to be a safe distance, he ran through a forest he had only seen in passing, and had never gone in to explore. Because he had no desire to run straight into a tree at mach two, Sonic decided to take it slow through the forest. Even though his "slow" was still about a hundred miles per hour, his unparalleled reflexes allowed him to take a new area at this speed safely. He began to appreciate the delicate play of the shadows of the trees and plants, with the sunlight peeking through and creating unique patterns on the ground. He had company in the form of songbirds and flickies, but a mixture of pink and purple caught his eye. "Huh?" He had ran past it before his brain registered that he had even saw it. He skidded on the loose dirt, kicking plenty of it onto the plants and trees, but eventually turned around and made his way back to the once blur of colors now taken form. He blinked in awe as he looked it over for a moment. ". . . Blaze?" Sonic gently shook the unconscious cat, hoping for a response. "Blaze, are you all right?"

"Nnnnngh. . . Sonic. . .?" Blaze slowly pushed herself off the ground, her body and outfit covered with small pieces of dirt, but that was less important to her now. "Where am I?" She stood up and quickly stumbled, clearly still dazed, and seeing double.

"You're on Mobius, in my world. We're in a forest. I was just passing through when I saw you- whoa!" Sonic ran forward and grabbed Blaze before she fell over. Her eyes were still open, but she still had not recovered from her dramatic entrance. She fell to one knee, and once she felt Sonic wrap his arms around her, she gently used one hand to push against his shoulder, and the other against the ground, trying to stand on her own again.

"Thank you, Sonic, but I'll be fine. . ." She put her hand over her mouth as she stood up, realizing how relaxed her tone of voice and speech were. _Ever since he saved my world, I've always been so comfortable around him. . . I owe him a lot. . . _She then looked down and began to brush herself off, feeling slightly embarrassed at being seen in such a vulnerable state.

"It. . . it's good to see you again, Blaze. . ." Sonic stuttered out awkwardly, rubbing his left shoe against the dirt. He had missed her since they last parted ways, and Blaze was certainly unique and unforgettable. He thought back about their battle, and how he had helped her open up, even if it was only a little bit. "Oh!" Sonic's eyes went wide, and he snapped his fingers. "Cream would love to see you again!" He quickly came back to reality. "Are you sure you're all right?" Sonic looked Blaze over, now seeing her standing with her usual poise, and also much less dirt on her.

"I'm all right." Blaze smiled. She was not happy about the whole situation and having to be checked on, but she had just been thinking about seeing Sonic and his friends again, so she would try to make the most of it. _After all, who knows when I'll get this chance again, if I'll get it again at all? _

"What was the last thing you remember before coming here, Blaze? Was Eggman Nega up to his old tricks again?" Sonic now looked concerned, and the peaceful aura of the forest was not calming him down at all.

"I. . . I don't know. . . I was meditating with the Sol Emeralds ,as I do every morning, and then I flew through some portal, and suddenly. . . I was here. . ." Blaze took a good look at her surroundings for the first time since landing. She liked the serenity of the forest, and this was much nicer than the one back in her dimension.

"Hmm. . ." Sonic rested his chin on his hand and tapped his foot, not due to impatience, but due to deep thought. "We can figure that out later. Right now. . . how about you and I grab a bite to eat?" Blaze looked up and noted the sun was starting to fall, and that it was mid-afternoon here. She thought for a moment, but a low growl from her stomach answered for her.

"I would certainly like to have dinner with you, Sonic, but I do not know of many places to eat in this world. Where do you suggest we go?" Blaze looked a bit uneasy, her golden eyes still glassy and dazed. Sonic thought for a moment, then grinned.

"I've got a place in mind. . . here, I'll carry you." Sonic stepped towards Blaze and slowly extended his arms.

"Um. . ." Blaze's cheeks slowly turned red. "I'll be fine, thank you. . ." In her haste, Blaze stepped back, stumbled on a tree root, and fell back against a tree. She let out a light hiss of pain, which caused Sonic to dash over to her and kneel down in front of her.

"Come on, Blaze, you know me. It's all right." Sonic extended his hand, and even wiggled his fingers to try to lighten the mood, but Blaze was too embarrassed to smile. She gently took Sonic's hand and stood up, still not looking him in the eye.

"I apologize, Sonic. I guess I was frightened because of my sudden arrival in your world." Blaze closed her eyes and took a calming deep breath, then opened them up to see Sonic's green eyes locked on hers. "You may. . . carry me if you wish. . ." She did not want to admit it, but she could barely make it out of the forest because she was still disoriented, in addition to not knowing the way out.

"I'll be gentle, I promise. . ." Sonic swiftly moved his hands to Blaze's shoulders and knees, picking her up bridal-style. Blaze squirmed at this, her heart pounding, but after a moment, she relaxed in Sonic's hands. She looked Sonic in the eyes and gave a gracious nod, and the pair were off.

"Eep!" Blaze gasped in surprise as she got a shocking reminder of just how fast Sonic was. She was moving even faster than when she fell to the ground upon entering Sonic's dimension. She tried to look around and take in the sights, but they were all colored blurs. Her eyes were darting around, quick as a hummingbird, but blinking to try to regain focus did not help. Before she knew it, they were on a sidewalk, in front of the rather beautiful Golden Ring restaurant. Though the large, semicircular, gold-plated arch was a bit much, the inside was a four-star restaurant. See-through glass doors with golden handles and windows all around gave a thorough view of the nearby buildings. The colors inside were simple, but the contrast made them look bolder. The black booths and tables were made more conspicuous by the white walls and lamps hanging from the ceiling, and the black carpeting had thin, gold stitching that made numerous curves and spirals all over. Some first-time diners were too distracted to notice that they had made it to their table until the waiter pointed it out. Sonic gently set Blaze down as she brushed herself off and took a moment to regain her bearings by lowering her head and closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she saw the door open in front of her, Sonic bowing slightly, and a white gloved hand beckoning her inside.

"Ladies first." Sonic said with a grin.

"Oh!" Blaze covered her hand with her mouth for a moment, then lowered it and smiled. "Such a gentleman. Thank you, Sonic." Blaze delicately wandered inside and looked around, and Sonic went in behind her. A tall penguin clad in a gold bowtie greeted them.

"Welcome to the Golden Ring. Two for dinner?" The penguin glanced between the two of them expectantly, and Blaze answered him.

"Yes. Also, could we please eat somewhere in the corner, away from most of the windows?" Blaze was slightly unnerved about how open most of the restaurant was, and did not want to be seen by strangers at all if it could be helped. Even though she had to occasionally be in the public eye for her royal duties, she did not particularly like it, but she knew that it must be done for the kingdom's sake.

"Yes, of course. Right this way." The penguin bowed, then led them through the main room to a separate room that had the same style as the first, however, there was only one window at each end of the room, and both of them were rather small. It was horrible if the diners wanted to look outside, but it also gave them their privacy. They were led to a private table that had a lit candle on it, even though the light above it was more than adequate. The waiter gestured towards the table, and Sonic pulled out Blaze's chair.

"Oh, thank you, Sonic." Blaze smiled and gave a slight bow of thanks. She sat down and stared at the candle's flame, pondering for a moment. For being so nervous not half an hour ago, she was feeling very calm now. A nice, relaxing dinner with her friend, and the small flame served to calm her down rather than think of the powers that had made her an outcast until she met Sonic. She barely noticed Sonic sitting down until the waiter asked what they wanted to drink. Sonic paused for a moment, so Blaze said she wanted some water. After Sonic said the same, the waiter nodded and left. After he was out of earshot, Blaze spoke quietly. "I thought you hated water." Her golden eyes sparkled, and she had a sly grin on her face. Sonic blinked and was taken aback. He had never known Blaze to be so, well, flirty.

"Only when it gets in my fur. You ever tried to use a hair dryer for your fur?" Blaze stared at Sonic, confused, and shook her head. "Trust me, don't." Sonic had a look of disgust as he recalled the incident. He had asked Amy about ways to dry off, and she suggested a hair dryer, not knowing that Sonic had meant his entire body. Tails had come by to visit him before he had fixed the problem, and jokingly came up with "Sonic the Fluffball." Blaze let a small giggle escape her lips as she saw Sonic's reaction. She felt a slight blush as Sonic stared at her.

"I apologize." Blaze said quickly.

"Don't worry about it." Sonic nonchalantly waved his hand. Blaze's eyes slowly moved around the room, then back to Sonic.

"Have you been here before?"

"Actually, I haven't. I heard this place was great, but I never went. I always wanted to come here. . . with someone, you know?" Sonic leaned towards Blaze and smiled, who merely blinked.

"I think so. . ." Blaze was slightly confused. She never had a real friend before Sonic, merely people that she took to royal occasions as "dates." She thought for a moment, her eyes locked intently on Sonic's. "Coming to a luxurious place like this must be quite an experience. It would be more fun to. . ." Blaze tilted her head, and her left ear twitched as she tried to find the right words. "Share that experience with someone, yes?" Blaze blushed at her words, but Sonic kept his cool.

"Yeah!" Sonic flashed his trademark grin, then glanced to see that the waiter had returned with their drinks. "Thanks!" He said to the waiter, not missing a beat.

"Thank you very much." Blaze bowed to the waiter.

"Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked, looking between the two quickly.

"We're gonna need a few minutes, sorry." Sonic answered, then became very interested in the menu. Blaze noticed this and did the same to hide her still-visible blush, but ended up nearly pressing the menu against her face. The waiter left as the pair looked over their choices. Sonic's eyes kept looking between the menu and Blaze. _Blaze is being really. . . relaxed. And she's. . . flirting with me. I've never seen her like this before. Glad to see she's opening up a bit._

On the other side of the table, Blaze's tail was swishing back and forth rather quickly. She could feel the sweat on her palms as she held the menu. _What is WRONG with me? I finally get back into Sonic's dimension, with all my friends, and now the hero of BOTH our worlds is taking me out to dinner AND flirting with me! And I've gone soft! The Sol Emeralds are in danger. I need to get back to my own dimension. . . _Blaze let out a pondering sigh. _And I also have to find a suitor. But Gardon never said it had to be from my world. . . and I'm glad he didn't. Maybe someone here can really be the one. . . _Her train of thought stopped with the waiter coming by and asking if they were ready to order. Blaze gave a nervous nod, part of her wanting to get this over as quickly as possible, and part of her wanting to relax and see her friends. She ordered shrimp pasta primavera, and Sonic got a New York steak. The waiter took their menus and left, and Blaze immediately spaced out again. _Maybe I can be with Sonic. . . he's certainly strong enough to take on anything in my world, and he can certainly turn on the charm. I'm sure everyone in my world will like him. . ._

"Blaze?" Sonic interrupted Blaze's train of thought. She blinked and shifted in her seat as she came back to reality.

"Yes, Sonic?" Blaze looked curiously at Sonic.

"How have things been going in your world since I left?" Sonic felt a bit awkward bringing that up knowing that Blaze had to guard the Sol Emeralds, and also that she was probably still getting used to the fact that she was in Sonic's world for an unknown amount of time, but he was curious. Except for the surrounding ocean, Sonic had liked being in the Sol Dimension. He got to see a new world, save it, and make new friends. What more could he want?

"Not much has changed since you left. I am still guarding the Sol Emeralds and continuing to train my powers, as well as all of my royal duties." She spoke the last part with a small amount of disdain in her voice.

"No offense, Blaze, but that sounds kinda boring." Sonic shrugged, but he was also concerned because Blaze sounded unhappy. Blaze exhaled slowly and put her hands down on the table.

"It is. . ." Blaze lowered her head. "But it is my duty to the people, and I do these things for the safety of my world."

"But we don't see you as Princess Blaze here. You're just Blaze, our friend. While you're here, why don't you have some fun?" Sonic smiled.

"I. . ." Blaze glanced away nervously. "I'll try."

"You won't be alone, Blaze. We can go talk to Tails after we meet Cream. He knows more about chaos energy and emeralds than anyone, he'll know how to get you back home." Sonic kept clam, and Blaze reached up, touched her collarbone, and smiled.

"Thank you, Sonic." Blaze's tail finally stopped swishing. "I have not seen you in quite some time, either. What are some of the newest developments in your world?"

"Hmm. . ." Sonic put his hand on his chin. "Well, since you left, we've just had Eggman to fight off. There's a few new arrivals, though. I don't think you've met Shadow or Rouge. . ." Blaze shook her head. "Well, Shadow's kinda like me, but his fur is black, and he's pretty blunt, but he's a nice guy. Rouge is a bat who can find anything valuable, just. . . protect your valuables."

"I. . . see. . ." Blaze nodded slowly, now wary of both of them, despite Sonic's reasonably nice words. "And how is everyone else?"

"They're fine. Tails is still tinkering, Cream is still having fun and being polite, and Knuckles is still guarding the Master Emerald." Sonic tried his best to move the conversation along; the last thing he wanted to do was make Blaze even more nervous. "Things have calmed down here a lot, actually. Eggman might finally be getting the hint that he can't beat us." Blaze grinned.

"I'm glad. I hope that he won't ruin my stay here." Sonic laughed, happy that Blaze was feeling better. "The last time I was here, I did not fully appreciate how beautiful this world was. As much as I want to get back to my own world to make sure everyone is okay, staying here for some time would not be too bad."

"I'm glad you like it here." Sonic gave a genuine smile, as he was glad that Blaze wanted to stay. Even though he knew that she could not, he wanted to spend more time with her. His train of thought was interrupted when the waiter brought them their food. Blaze's stomach rumbled, and she blushed, but ate as quickly as she could while still retaining her manners. Sonic ate quickly as well, but that was because he was Sonic. Blaze and Sonic both tried to avoid each other's gazes once they were done. Blaze did so because she felt awkward about going on a date, even though she would never admit it was one, and Sonic did so because he had never been this open with any girl, ever.

"This place was very good Sonic, thank you for bringing me here." Blaze smiled warmly at him.

"Any time, Blaze. Where would you like to go next?" The waiter came by with the check and Sonic paid for the meal while Blaze thought.

"I would like to go see Cream and her mother, if possible." Blaze was recalling her first time in Mobius, and how much Cream and Vanilla helped her. She knew she wanted to go back there again to catch up with the two of them.

"Great." Sonic stood up along with Blaze and walked out slowly with her. His hand found its way to hers once they stepped outside. Blaze felt herself get hot and blushed, pulling her hand away from Sonic's before she hurt him. "Sorry. . ."

"L-Let's go. . . which way to her house?" Blaze glanced around, still clearly nervous.

"It's that. . ." Sonic pointed to the left, and Blaze began to dash off before Sonic could finish. ". . . way. Hey!" Sonic ran quickly enough to catch up, then stayed even with her, the buildings becoming a blur. "What's the matter?" Blaze merely shook her head. _I can't tell him. . . he's already got enough to deal with by keeping his own world safe. If we really are meant to be, well. . . we'll know._ "Blaze, STOP!" Sonic shouted, sounding desperate. Blaze sighed and heeded his words.

"What is it, Sonic?" Blaze spat, her hand clenched into a fist. _Doesn't he realize I don't want to talk to him?_

"We're here." Sonic pointed to the house ahead of them. Vanilla had a large, two-story house that was painted an off-white color, with a wooden roof, large windows, and wooden ledged that typically held pots that contained small plants. The garden out front was large and varied, with flowers of all colors and many different kinds of herbs. Several Chao were flying around and enjoying the serenity of the place, and became confused at the arrival of Blaze, whom they had never seen before. They flew up and tilted their heads, question marks appearing over them. "Hey, guys." Sonic waved calmly, as though Blaze's outburst had never happened. Blaze's angry look softened quickly once she saw the Chao, as they reminded her of Cheese, which also reminded her of Cream. "This is Blaze, she's one of Cream's friends." Three of the Chao flew over to her and waved, smiling, and each of them chirped a "Chao!" of greeting.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you all." Blaze smiled. Her royal, diplomatic upbringing had taken over, but she was also genuinely happy to see the Chao. Sonic had ran ahead and knocked on the door, which took Blaze's attention away from the Chao. She gently walked up behind Sonic, nervously looking at the door. She was anxious to see Cream again. She knew Cream and Vanilla would remember her, and hoped that they would help her find a place to stay until she could get back. _IF I could get back. . . _Blaze thought to herself. She had faith in Tails's mechanical abilities, and heard he was good with chaos energy, but she was not sure what brought her here in the first place, so she was worried. She let out a deep breath to relax herself, her eyes darting down when she saw the door open. Cream had answered the door, and her big, brown eyes went immediately to Blaze, staring at her for a moment, as if she could not believe Blaze was back.

"Blaze!" Cream jumped up and embraced the cat in a surprisingly strong hug, the force of which caught Blaze unaware, and she winced at Cream's grip. Cheese heard what was going on, and flew over quickly, hugging the side of Blaze's head in greeting. "Chao, chao!" Cheese let go and flew around Cream happily, Cream let go of Blaze, and Blaze returned the hug now that she was able to do so. Her golden eyes scanned the room and saw that it was more or less the same as the last time she saw it. Everything was neat and tidy, the long, white couch they had was still there. A small coffee table with decorations sat next to it, with a small box for Chao food and toys sitting beside that. A large vase with various colorful flowers brightened up the dining table, and the kitchen had all sorts of pots, pans, and spices in containers and cupboards. The smell of a delicious stew was moving through the house.

"It's good to see you again, Cream. And you, too, Cheese." Blaze smiled as she looked down at Cream, then glanced up as someone else's voice grabbed her attention.

"Blaze! It's so good to see you again! What brings you here? I'm sorry, we just finished dinner, so there's not much to eat, but would you like something to drink?" Vanilla spoke up, smiling brightly at Blaze.

"Oh, no, thank you." Blaze smiled, but grew nervous as she thought of how she came here. "And I just. . . got sent here through a portal, earlier today. It had something to do with the Sol Emeralds. Sonic found me in a nearby forest and took me out to dinner at the Golden Ring." At this, Cream's eyes lit up, and Vanilla raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled. "Speaking of, do you mind if I stay at your place until I find a way to get back? Tails is going to help me try to figure out a way home later today, but I still do not know how long I will be here."

"SONIC took you out to DINNER? At the Golden Ring?" Amy stormed into the room, hammer at the ready. She went unnoticed because of all the commotion surrounding Blaze's return, and although she normally would not mind waiting her turn to greet Blaze, she had to make her presence known once she knew Sonic took another female out on anything that sounded like a date.

"Whoa, take it easy, Ames. . . Blaze didn't know what was going on, so I tried to help her out. . ." Sonic put up his hands defensively, a guilty grin on his face.

"By taking her out to dinner?" Amy huffed and stepped towards Sonic, which made Sonic step backwards, towards the door.

"She was hungry!" Sonic reached backwards for the door handle. Blaze blinked, slightly confused, and nodded, but no one was paying attention to her.

"Amy, Sonic was just being nice to Blaze! Please don't hurt him!" Cream knew her efforts were futile, but she tried anyways, both for Sonic's sake and for Blaze's sake.

"I'll be back later, Cream!" Amy took another step towards Sonic, who turned and dashed out the door. Amy ran after her, showing surprising speed. "Son-iiiiiiiiic, come baaaaaaack here. . ." She spoke in a voice that was equal parts enticing and creepy. The Chao stared on in confusion at the scene before them, but went back to playing a few seconds after Amy left their sight.

Cream walked over and closed the open door quickly. "I'm sorry, Blaze, but Amy is staying over here tonight, and we only have enough room for one person. I'm sure we can find somewhere else for you to stay. . ." Cream put her hand over her mouth in deep thought.

"I guess I won't be able to stay at Sonic's, either. . ." Blaze lowered her head and sighed. The three of them all thought for a minute before hearing a knock at the door. Blaze snapped to attention and stepped back, as she knew it was probably Amy at the door, and she would rather not be in the way of an enraged Amy if she could help it. Cream walked to the door and nervously opened it, standing as far back as she could.

"He got away from me, Cream. . ." Amy looked defeated, and no longer had her hammer with her. Blaze looked on in confusion, and Cream gently patted Amy's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Amy, Sonic will come around soon." Cream was not very shocked at Amy chasing after Sonic, given how common it was, but she was slightly upset that it had to happen while Blaze was over.

"Thanks, Cream." Amy sighed and gave a weak smile before turning to Blaze. "Blaze!" Her eyes widened, and she looked as though she had not seen Blaze at all. Blaze looked apprehensive, and she wracked her brain for something to say to try to help calm Amy down, even though Amy did not look angry or sad anymore. "Sorry about that. It was so mean for Sonic to do that, trying to take advantage of you by taking you out to dinner to 'help you out.'" Amy leaned in and used air quotes for the last few words, and Blaze could merely stare at Amy, completely stunned. _Oh, Sol, she really IS crazy! Sonic was just being a. . . good friend, that's all._ Blaze thought to herself as she tried to come up with a response.

"I. . . see. . ." She stuttered, still backing away.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying earlier? You came here through some. . . portal?" Amy seemed genuinely friendly again, but Blaze was still nervous, even though she was happy that the conversation was back to normal.

"Yes. . ." She nodded and straightened her posture. "And also, I need a place to stay. Cream mentioned you were staying here, so it would be rude to ask you to leave. Do you know of anywhere I can stay?"

"Hmmm. . ." Amy thought, then walked over the window and looked outside. "Maybe you can stay with Tails. He lives close by, and he's a really nice guy. You remember him?" Amy looked back at Blaze, who had a stunned look on her face. _Of course, Tails. His genius was invaluable when he was with Sonic in my dimension, and he was always very kind. If anyone can help me get back home, it's him. I hope I can get back before I have to choose a suitor. . . the kingdom would be in an uproar. . . _Blaze had unconsciously tuned out the conversation surrounding her. It took Vanilla standing in front of her and speaking to get Blaze back to reality.

"Blaze? Is something wrong, dear?" Vanilla looked Blaze over as a doctor would check over their patient.

"I. . ." Blaze looked around, and grew nervous at seeing everyone else stare at her. "I'm sorry, my mind was focused on other things. . ."

"Oh, yes, of course. You must be worried about what's going on back home." Vanilla said, and Blaze nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" Blaze could see Vanilla's eyes see into her soul. She knew Vanilla knew something else was wrong, and although Blaze was not ready to talk about it now, least of all in front of Cream and Amy, she wanted someone to talk to and help her with her choice.

"Perhaps. . . later would be better. I would not mind staying with Tails, if he could accommodate me and does not mind doing so." Blaze's uneasiness made her speak more formally again, and Cream frowned as she picked up on it.

"I'll call Tails!" Cream dashed over to the phone and dialed for Tails, who picked up immediately.

_"Hello?"_

"Hi, Tails, it's Cream. Can you do me a favor, please?"

_"Sure, Cream. What is it?"_

"Blaze came back to our world and needs a place to stay, at least for the night. Amy's already over, so we can't have Blaze stay, too."

_"Blaze?" _On the other end of the line, Tails's eyes went wide. _"Is everything okay?" _He recalled needing to fight Eggman and Eggman Nega the last time Blaze appeared on Mobius.

"Everything's fine, Tails. Blaze is okay, she's at my house right now."

_"I can be over in a few minutes if you need me to." _This made Cream turn to Blaze and place her hand over the receiver.

"Blaze? Tails can come over any time, when would you like him to come by?"

"Um. . ." Blaze glanced between Cream, Vanilla, and Amy, her eyes settling on the latter a split-second longer than anyone else. She knew she did not want to be around when Amy lost her temper again.  
"As soon as he could, please. . ." She saw a flash of sadness in Cream's eyes and found herself frowning before giving a firm nod. Cream lifted her hand off the receiver and kept calm as she spoke.

"Tails, could you come over now, please?"

_"Sure, I'll be right over. See you soon." _With that, Tails hung up and ran to the Tornado. Cream turned to Blaze. "How are things in your world, Blaze? Do you still live in that huge castle you told me about?" Her eyes sparkled as she remembered the fairy tales that she read and heard about from Amy and Vanilla. Blaze chuckled and nodded.

"Mm-hmm. It looks even better now. It has some beautiful paintings of the countryside, and part of each rug is made with gold." She tried to hold Cream's attention, not feeling too bad about the little white lie. She had to do something to make up for wanting to leave immediately after reuniting with them. Even though she knew she would come back, she wanted to avoid Amy, at least for now. She smiled at Cream's glowing face.

"Do you have any more stories from your kingdom?" Cream asked excitedly.

"Oh, I've got a few. . ." Blaze started, but a knock on the door cut her off.

"That must be Tails. I'll get it." Vanilla offered, striding over to the door and opening it. Blaze, Amy and Cream walked to the door, standing behind Vanilla. Vanilla opened the door and Tails waved at everyone.

"Hello, everyone!" Tails's bright blue eyes scanned the room quickly until he found who he was looking for. "Blaze!" Tails spun his tails and flew over to Blaze, who grinned at him.

"Tails! Glad to see you're the same as ev-oof!" Blaze staggered backwards as Tails hugged her in mid-air.

"Same to you. Are you ready to go?" Tails asked as he pulled away, still flying. Blaze regained a straight face and nodded. "Great. You can tell me what's happened on the way."

"Don't you want to stay for a while, Tails?" Cream asked when Tails turned to the door. Tails frowned and landed.

"I'm sorry, Cream, maybe later." He hugged Cream, which she returned. "Right now, I need to find out what's going on with Blaze. I know we can help her, whatever it is." Cream smiled and gave an understanding nod.

"Good luck, Tails." Amy spoke and nodded, and Tails nodded back. He walked to the door, waved good-bye to everyone, and left with Blaze, who had a confused look on her face when she stepped outside.

"Tails, what is that?" She pointed to the Tornado, which Tails had spent most of his time upgrading. It had a sleek design, looking more like a Ferrari of the sky than the more clunky plane that he had first built when he had first met Sonic. The dark blue paint job was a minor, but noticeable contrast to the sky, and the large yellow stripe down the middle nearly matched Tails's own fur, but the signature on the top of the tail in the shape of Tails's twin tails, white fur and all, let everyone know it was a Miles Prower creation.

"Oh, right." Tails grinned sheepishly. "That's the Tornado. It's how I usually get around. It flies a lot faster than I can, I just upgraded it so it can seat four, it's got automatic navigation, and it's good for the environment!" His eyes lit up as he described his plane, which made Blaze smile.

"It looks very nice. So. . . we'll be flying home in that, then?" She pointed, concern showing in her golden eyes. No one but Blaze knew, but she was afraid of heights. Even though she trusted Tails, she still did not want to fly.

"Yeah, come on!" Tails ran to the Tornado and opened the cockpit, motioning Blaze to join him, which she did, even though she was reluctant. Tails took her hand and pulled her up, which caused Blaze to blush and pause. "What is it?" Tails blinked, confused.

"It. . . it's nothing." Blaze was not sure if her nerves were caused by Tails or her fear of heights. She got inside and buckled up, noticing it felt tighter against it than it should. "Um. . . could you please hurry, Tails?"

"Of course!" Tails was pressing buttons on various consoles spread across the front of the cockpit, and a small display in the center lit up. It was a map of the surrounding area. Tails tapped the screen, and a red dot appeared where his house was shown on the map. "It's on autopilot, it knows the way. So, Blaze, what's going on? How did you get here?" Blaze closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stared to tell Tails everything that had happened since she went to the shrine of the Sol Emeralds, with careful omissions of the flirting with Sonic and Amy losing her temper. She took her time after she found out that speaking and keeping her eyes closed helped her deal with her fear of heights. She finished just as they reached the ground, her eyes flying open instantly as she felt the landing gear hit the dirt.

"Yah!" Blaze let slip as the Tornado started to stop.

"It's okay, Blaze, we just landed." Tails pressed a few more buttons, and the Tornado came to a full stop just inside the hangar Tails built for his creations. "We're here!" Tails opened the cockpit, and Blaze unbuckled herself and jumped out, flinging herself ahead of Tails. "Whoa! Blaze, what's wrong?" Tails jumped off the cockpit and flew beside Blaze.

"I. . . I just don't like being cooped up is all. It reminds me of being on Eggman Nega's ship." This was a half-truth. Blaze still did not want to speak about her real fear, but hoped that Tails would not press the issue.

"I'm sorry, Blaze. But you're safe now." Tails gave a reassuring nod, and broke out into a grin as he landed. "Now, how about a tour?"

"That would be nice, Tails, thank you." Blaze smiled and stopped, looking around to take everything in. All sorts of machines in various forms of completion, from piles of parts set aside in specific places to an all-terrain vehicle that looked like it had a cross-section taken of it to a fully-built chassis and frame of a weapon that merely needed a paint job, were strewn across the floor. Off to one side was a high school chemistry lab on steroids, with a lot of beakers, all filled with various substances, some of which were boiling or being filtered into other substances, or labeled "UNTESTED! DO NOT TOUCH!" The best sight to behold was a large computer, nearly taking up an entire side of the room, with all sorts of buttons and levers of various colors and sizes, and a screen so big Blaze wondered to herself why anyone would ever need something that size. "It seems you've been very busy. What's all this for?"

"Lots of stuff." Tails turned and gestured through parts of the lab. "Some of these are orders from the kingdom here, or from clients, for me to build specific machines for them. Some of these are experiments to try to find out properties of materials, so that we can build new things, or combine these new materials with existing ones to make things better. I just finished making a new steel alloy that we'll be using to reinforce the walls of Castle Acorn, so that they can take most of Eggman's missiles without a scratch!"

"That sounds wonderful, Tails! We could really use a brilliant mind like yours in our world. . ." Blaze blushed as she realized what she said, and Tails blushed as well. "I mean, Marine is doing a very good job building things, but another great mind would help us even more." She took a long, slow breath to collect herself as the two of them walked into the house, which was also rather large, especially for one person. It had some necessities, but not much else, and all the necessities Tails had were rather large. He had a leather couch that was large enough for Blaze to lay down and sleep on, if she liked. A desk and drawing table were off in another room, covered with blueprints and crumpled-up papers that were initial or imperfect designs. The house had a large kitchen, but not many utensils, dishes, pots, or pans. Had Blaze taken a look inside Tails's refrigerator, she would have found a lot of microwaveable dinners and ice cream. A storage closet next to the kitchen was mostly empty, save for some paper and random scraps of metal. Upstairs had a bathroom and two well-furnished guest rooms, which Tails kept clean if anyone wanted to stay the night, which happened about once every two months or so. Blaze loved the house, but after a moment, she found a frown on her face. "Tails, your house is lovely. . . but it's very large, and you're the only one here. . . doesn't it get, well, lonely?" Tails blinked, pondering for a moment, then nodded.

"Well. . . sometimes. . . yes. . . but then Sonic or Cream or Amy comes to visit, and it's not so bad." Tails put on a smile that was not fooling anyone. "And I can always keep myself busy by building or testing something, so that helps."

"I see. . ." Blaze nodded. "Sonic said you were an expert on chaos energy, and I am sure that you learned something about the energy of the Sol Emeralds from my dimension when you were on it. I need to get back to my own world, but I am not sure how. I need your help, Tails." She spoke urgently, as if she needed to get home as quickly as possible. Her internal conflict between wanting to leave quickly and wanting to stay in order to stay with friends and possibly find someone to rule alongside her was taking its a hefty toll on her.

"I'll be glad to help, Blaze. Anything for a friend." Tails said, and Blaze smiled. "But it'll have to be tomorrow morning, the lab's running at full capacity today, and will be doing so through the night. Don't worry, though, the walls in here are all soundproofed, so the noise won't keep you awake."

"Thank you." Blaze nodded.

"Oh, did you want anything? Something to drink, maybe?" Tails walked towards the kitchen, just in case Blaze said yes.

"No thank you, Tails. After a day like this, all I need is a shower and a nice, long rest." Blaze smiled, but her exhaustion showed in her eyes.

"Okay, bathroom's upstairs, first door on the left." Tails pointed accordingly.

"Thank you. Oh, and, Tails?" Blaze's smile started to morph into a smirk.

"Yes?"

"Is there someone. . . special in your life?" It was a question Tails thought Amy would usually ask, but he paused for a moment when he heard it from Blaze, and another moment when he saw her face. Once Blaze saw Tails start to turn her way, she became stoic, which confused Tails even more. It was such a personal subject, and she had just asked it with the air of someone asking for the time of day.

"Oh. . . no. . . not really. . ." Tails found himself frowning, but then forced a smile. "I have a lot of great friends here, and that's all I need for now."

"Okay. . ." Blaze turned and went upstairs, closing the bathroom door and preparing for her shower. As the brilliant fox downstairs muttered "What was that all about?" out loud, Blaze had stared the water before closing her eyes and letting the hot water wash away the stress. _Well, good to know I have options. Tails is also very kind, and sympathetic to the needs of others. He could do wonders for the kingdom, but he's still very young. . . I know he can handle robots and danger, but I don't know if he can handle ruling a kingdom. . . _

Meanwhile, Tails was moving around the house, making sure everything looked nice for Blaze. _I know I can't clean up everything, but she IS still a princess, I should at least try to make her comfortable. Hopefully it will put her a bit more at ease. _Between throwing away spare wrappers for all sorts of things and old papers, straightening up what he did not throw away, and checking the bedroom to make sure everything was clean and ready for use, he was still busy when he heard the shower turn off. He even changed the bedcovers from their usual white to some purple ones he had acquired from Amy. He used them when she slept over, but also remembered that they would match Blaze's fur. After swapping them, he hastily turned down the bed, finishing just in time to see a silhouette of Blaze that was covered in steam exit the bathroom. "Oh, sorry. . ." Tails went back to tidying up, but Blaze chuckled and shook her head.

"You didn't have to do all of this, Tails. Between giving me a place to stay and promising to help me get back home, you've done more than enough." Blaze sat on the bed with a smile, then turned out to see the rising moon, with some stars still in the sky. "All I need right now is. . ." She stretched her back and yawned covering it up with her mouth. "A good, long rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning, and we'll work on getting me home then, okay?"

"O-Okay." Tails lowered his head and blushed at Blaze's kind words and attention. He would never say it, but he thought Blaze was beautiful. "Good night, Blaze." Tails left the room quickly, closing the door behind him. Blaze tucked herself in and giggled quietly at what had just happened. _He's still young, a bit shy and naive, but he's good company once he gets over his nerves. _With that thought, Blaze was out like a light.


	3. Tails, the Thirteenth Doctor

I LIVE! Course is now done, and if I could do well at something, I crushed it. This one's a bit shorter than normal, but I just wanted to get something down to show that I'm still alive, and this is really popular for only having two chapters so far, so I did this first. I'll get to work on my other story soon.

SEGA owns all the characters.

* * *

Blaze slowly opened her eyes and gave a yawn as she awoke. Panic overcame her after her eyes opened as she saw the somewhat-unfamiliar surroundings of Tails's guest room. _So it wasn't a dream, I really am in Sonic's world. . ._ She sat up and stretched, trying to mentally prepare herself for the day, but realizing that there was nothing certain to prepare for. A look out the window told her it was late morning, and she mentally scolded herself for sleeping in so late, even though she was rather tired after being flung into another dimension and all the dramatic events that happened after she landed. She took a few steps towards the door and heard a loud "BANG!" coming from downstairs. She dashed as quickly as she could towards the lab. Hearing more sounds of various machines allowed her to find the way the lab easily. The doors were wide open, and Tails was standing inside, leaning backwards with a slightly stunned look on his face. "Tails!" Blaze called out from the entrance. Tails quickly turned back.

"Blaze!" He glanced at her, then at the machines, then back to Blaze.

"Tails, are you all right?" Blaze slowly stepped into the lab, slightly nervous from the noises she was still hearing, and trying to calm down from what had just happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine. . . oh. . ." He smacked himself on the forehead. "I didn't wake you, did I?" Blaze quickly shook her head then ran over to Tails and hugged him, which made Tails blush and awkwardly place his arms around her. "Uh. . . Blaze. . .?"

Blaze quickly let go of Tails. "I apologize. I heard something coming from downstairs, and I assumed you would be working on something in the lab. I. . . I was worried. . ." Blaze's ears twitched, but she kept a straight face.

"No, no, everything's okay, Blaze." Tails looked back at the open doors. "I'm sorry for scaring you. The walls here were soundproof, but I came in in a rush, and I left the doors open. The sound you heard was this. . ." He began to walk over to a large, cylindrical machine which was attached via tubes to a nearby computer. An entry door made of glass covered half of the cylinder, which totaled eight feet high. The rest of the cylinder was made of stainless steel, and the computer had all sorts of small lights, buttons, and displays for different outputs. "This is what we're going to use to measure what kinds of energy you have emanating from you as a result of your inter-dimensional travel. If we can get the appropriate forms of energy to destructively interfere with the type of energy you have, based on their wavelengths, amplitude, and phase, we should be able to counteract the force that brought you here." When Blaze gave a blank look back at him, Tails put his hand behind his head and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I'm going to use this to see what happened to you and figure out what we need to do to get you back home." Blaze gave a quick nod and looked at the machine.

"And you want me to get inside that machine?" Blaze pointed at it and tilted her head curiously. She was still apprehensive after hearing the noise the machine produced earlier.

"Yeah. . ." Tails ran to the controls. "What you heard earlier was me turning it on. It hasn't been used in a long time, so I had to make sure it still worked." He studied the keys and knobs and switches on the control panel, playing with them while looking at the displays. "Mm-hmm. . ." He muttered while he read the results. "Yup, it works just fine. And it won't make any sounds like that again. Turning such a complicated machine on after a long break can have some. . . strange consequences, blowing out the dust and all that, but it'll be okay now." He smiled at Blaze, and gestured for her to go in, flipping the switch to open the door. Blaze gulped, but Tails could not hear it. She glanced back at Tails, who nearly read her mind as he gave a reassuring nod. "Blaze, trust me, everything will be fine. I'm glad we can all see you again, but I know you need to get home, and I want to help." Blaze's cheeks turned pink, and she quickly strode into the machine. "This will just take a minute." Tails called out as he closed the doors. A low humming came from the machine as Tails glanced back and forth between Blaze and the controls. He noticed she still looked nervous, so he worked as quickly as he could. Blaze's heart was pounding as Tails worked, as she knew the next few minutes would determine the fate of herself and her kingdom. Her confidence that there would be a way home was weakening with each passing second. She was brought back to reality when the door opened again. "Blaze. . . ? It's all done." Tails peeked up from the console and saw Blaze blinking rapidly. "Blaze?" He started to run over what could have gone wrong in his head, but stopped when Blaze stepped out.

"Sorry, Tails, I'm okay. . ." Blaze forced a smile, but neither of them were buying it. "What do I have to do to get home?" Tails opened his mouth, but Blaze cut him off. "The simple version, please." Tails grinned and nodded.

"Right." Tails looked back at the display. "You have an energy surrounding you that looks a bit different from the Sol Emeralds. Did the emeralds. . . change, since I was last there?"

Blaze shook her head. "Eggman Nega made his usual attempts at the emeralds, but he was not able to get them."

"Hmm. . ." Tails looked at the display again. "Any other thieves? Anyone take one of them?"

Blaze shook her head again. "I heard that the guardian of the Sol Emeralds had a different sort of aura around them. . . perhaps that is the difference?"

"No, no. . . it shouldn't cause something like this. . ." Tails looked at the machine. "Bad news is, the energy is so far away from the normal energy of the Sol Emeralds that it must mean that something as powerful as a Sol Emerald was either stolen, replaced, or corrupted." Blaze looked at Tails in horror.

"So. . . I failed in my duties. . ." Blaze began to look sad.

"Not necessarily. . ." Tails looked back at Blaze, smiling in an attempt to get her to smile. "The amount of energy needed to get you here was larger than the seven Sol Emeralds could produce on their own."

Blaze blinked, confused. "But that worked the last time I was here. . ."

Tails shook his head. "That's only because there was a problem with space-time. The way you came caused a huge rift that needed to be repaired. This was more like. . . a portal. Like you coming here was planned."

Blaze's eyes widened. "But I had stopped Eggman Nega just recently, and he did not get anywhere NEAR the emeralds!" Blaze's hand formed a fist and pounded on a table next to the machine. Tails waved his hands.

"B-Blaze! Stop!" Tails spoke nervously.

Blaze sighed. "Sorry. . . it's been a rough couple of days. . ."

Tails nodded and put his hand on top of Blaze's fist, which caused it to relax into a hand, and her cheeks to turn pink again. "It's okay, Blaze. . . unwanted inter-dimensional travel will do that to you." Blaze lightly smiled, understanding enough of what he said to know he was trying to make her feel better. He glanced down and noticed his hand on hers, slowly pulling his away. "Oh. . . sorry. . ."

"It . . . it's okay. . . you had only good intentions, Tails. . ." Blaze's smile held, but she pulled her hand away and put it at her side. "Please, continue. . ."

"It didn't have to be Eggman Nega. I'm not sure who else it could be, but we'll deal with that later. Now, because it was a small portal, there really wasn't any damage done. But, we still need a lot of energy to get you back, and that different energy is making it hard to do. But, we can do it if we get all seven Chaos Emeralds." Tails nodded, and Blaze tilted her head, pondering for a moment before speaking.

". . . Is that always the answer?"

Tails blinked. "What do you mean?"

"That's what they told me when I came here last, to find the seven Chaos Emeralds. Is that your first solution to difficult problems?"

Tails looked confused, but started to explain. "Well. . . the Chaos Emeralds have the power to change time and space. Even one can make teleportation possible, just ask Sonic. All seven together creates the most powerful force in the world. You've seen so yourself. So, really. . . it kinda is. . ."

Blaze slowly nodded. "Okay. Where do we start?"

Tails turned off this machine and flew over to his main computer, and Blaze followed. "Well. . . we know where three of them are. . . Sonic has the red one, I have the yellow one. . ." He turned and pointed to the yellow Chaos Emerald concealed in a glass case. ". . .it usually powers things here, but everything can run without it, it just takes a lot of power, and Shadow has the green one." He began to type away on the computer.

"Sonic mentioned him, too. Is he a friend of yours?"

". . . Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Shadow's. . . complicated. But I'm sure he'll loan us the emerald once we explain what's going on." Tails nodded, but Blaze was not entirely convinced.

"What about the other four?"

"That's what we're looking for. . ." He looked up at the computer screen. "With the chaos emerald, this thing is powerful enough to scan the entire planet, but it will take a few days to do so. . ." Blaze's mouth twitched, and Tails turned to her just in time to catch it. "Sorry. . ."

"It's all right, Tails. You're doing your best." Blaze smiled. "I can certainly occupy my time while we figure out our next move."

"How about a trip into town?" Tails blurted out.

"Into. . . town. . .?" Blaze repeated, not expecting such a sudden and bold response from Tails.

"Yeah. I can show you around a bit. I need to pick up some parts there anyways." Tails had an innocent look on his face, and Blaze could tell he was sincere.

"All right." She giggled, which made Tails confused. "Are we going to leave now?"

"Do you want to leave now?" Tails started to walk towards the plane.

"Please." She followed him towards the plane, but stopped for a second as she remembered her fear of heights. "How long will it take to get to town?"

"A couple of minutes. Quicker than taking you from Cream's house to here." Tails gave her an encouraging smile and got into the plane.

"I think I can handle that." Blaze followed him in quickly, wanting to get in before losing her nerve. Tails started up the plane as soon as they were both buckled up, and they took off. Tails was checking his instruments as he remembered what kept Blaze calm the last time she flew.

"It's a nice day outside, don't you think?" He glanced back at Blaze to make eye contact and distract her from her fear a bit more. He looked back for a quick second to set the autopilot and its course, but then looked at Blaze.

"Yes, it's lovely. . ." Blaze looked outside, and tried to avoid looking down or noticing that Tails had taken both hands off the controls and seemed to be paying no attention to them. Her nerve-wracking morning and lack of knowledge of technology had made her forget that the Tornado had autopilot. "Uh, Tails. . ." She pointed in front of her, towards the cockpit.

"It's fine, Blaze. It's so advanced, it can fly itself! I just need to turn it on and tell it where to go." Tails tried to sound calm and reassuring, but talking about the Tornado had gotten him excited again.

"That's amazing, Tails. . ." Blaze had remembered the autopilot, and felt slightly embarrassed about forgetting.

"Thanks, Blaze. . ." Tails blushed and turned back towards the cockpit. "U-Um. . ."

"Yes, Tails? What is it?" Blaze's voice had some urgency in it. She was concerned that something was wrong with the plane.

"There's a great little restaurant by the supply store I go to. W-Would you like to have lunch with me?" Tails had put his hands in his lap and hid them behind the chair so Blaze could not see them shaking. The two of them had talked briefly in their previous adventures together, but asking her to lunch was something entirely different. Showing her around town was one thing, but this was starting to look more and more like a date to Tails. _She's a princess, Tails! A princess! She's out of your league!_ His mind was shouting, but he could not stop himself from asking.

"Of course, Tails. . ." Blaze giggled. _He's cute when he's so shy like that. . ._ "I would like that very much. . ." Tails smiled and blushed, both hidden from Blaze's view. He was about to reply when the plane started to land. Blaze gasped as she felt the plane touchdown, and Tails took control and slowed them to a gentle stop. They landed near the center of a thriving metropolis. The people and cars moving caught their eyes first. It was somewhat busy, but the typical lunch hour had not started yet, so getting around on foot would be easy. Billboards for all sorts of goods and services were up, but neither Blaze nor Tails paid any attention to them. Tails was focused on taking Blaze's mind off of things, and Blaze was becoming more and more focused on Tails. A few brave birds flew past them, stopping on the branches of the trees the city had planted along the sidewalks and in the road to act as barriers and dividers. Buildings of all sizes were around them, but the large shopping mall was the most prominent one that they could see. Blaze quickly scrambled out of the plane, and Tails followed, but Blaze had looked up at the mall. "This looks very majestic. . . is it the castle you were telling me about earlier?"

Tails could not suppress a smile and a laugh. "No, that's just the mall. . ."

Blaze looked it over thoughtfully. "It's much larger than the last time I was here. I did not think you would create something so enormous just for shopping, though. . ."

Tails shrugged, not having considered this too much. "Well, it means you can find almost anything you want in one place. So, where do you want to go first?"

Blaze kept glancing around, taking in all the other people, cars, and associated noise. She realized she actually knew very few other people, and that this was a stark contrast to the usual quiet solitude of her kingdom, both of which were making her uncomfortable. "How about we just get your parts and some food, and perhaps come back some other time?"

Tails looked up at Blaze and noticed her uneasiness. "R-Right." He knew why Blaze was nervous, having visited her dimension before and knowing it was so different from their own. "Those places are really close to each other. Follow me!" He smiled and gestured for her to follow him, trying to distract her. He flew up above the crowd, and Blaze laughed and followed behind him. Some of the other people turned and looked, and even gave some admiration to Tails, but let the two of them pass mostly unimpeded. They made it to the nearby diner, which had tables and chairs outside that were made of sculpted metal, which reminded Blaze of the designs on the castle walls and carpets back home. There was a building inside, but it had far fewer chairs, and was full of people. A female jaguar in a white button-up shirt, black skirt, and nametag stood outside, and ushered the two of them to an open table.

"Sorry, it's really busy in there. You'd have to stay outside to eat. Is that okay?" She noticed Blaze's unease. Tails nodded, then turned to Blaze, who also nodded. "Great. I'm Amanda, and I'll be your server. Can I start you off with something to drink?" Blaze ordered water, and Tails ordered a Chaos Cola. Amanda left to get the drinks, and Blaze looked at the menu while Tails looked at Blaze. Blaze sensed his gaze after a few moments and looked back at him.

"Tails?" Blaze tilted her head and blinked. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, I just. . ." Tails waved his hands in protest. "I just wanted to know if you're feeling okay. You've looked a bit nervous ever since we landed." Blaze smiled and tilted her head back to normal.

"I'm fine, Tails, thank you." She returned to look at the menu, and Amanda came by to give them their drinks and take their order a couple of minutes later. Blaze ordered a sandwich, and Amanda asked Tails if he wanted "the usual," which he did. She turned and left again.

"You must really like this place." Blaze noted.

"Mm-hmm! They have the best hot dogs in town!" Tails smiled, and his tails were swishing around. "So, Blaze, how are things in your world?"

"Not so different than normal. Eggman Nega attacks every now and then. Marine is working much harder on her engineering. She won't admit it outright, but I think she wants to be like you, Tails." Blaze smirked, and Tails blushed.

"Wh-What about the pirates?" Tails was more nervous from the implied praise of Marine.

"Only Nega's been after us as of late, as far as I know."

"How's being the princess treating you?"

Blaze thought for a few seconds before answering. "Quite well, actually. With Nega attacking less and less, I have a lot more time to myself. I've used it to work on my combat abilities, as well as my powers."

"Cool!" Tails's eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth, but closed it as he glanced back and forth. "I'd like to see what you can do, but perhaps later. This isn't the best place for your powers."

Blaze giggled. "Perhaps. But, let's just say that Nega doesn't stand a chance." She grinned nefariously, showing her teeth. Tails laughed, and both were interrupted by their food being given to them. Neither of them ate at the moment, though, both far more interested in talking. "What about you, Tails? Are you doing anything besides all that research and building?"

"Kinda. . ." Tails smiled. "I've been training with Sonic and Knuckles to get a lot stronger. I still prefer the machines, though, they can do a lot more for everyone."

Blaze stayed still. "How about Cream? I didn't get much of a chance to catch up with her last night." She finally took a bite.

"S-She's doing well." Tails stuttered, but regained his composure. "She comes by to talk every now and then."

"And make sure you're doing something other than working?" Blaze grinned.

"Uh. . . um. . ." Tails took a bite to avoid answering. Blaze chuckled and took another bite.

"Don't worry, Tails, I think it's cute." Blaze smiled. "A nice guy like you should be able to get any girl you want." Tails looked away and mumbled something that sounded like "not really looking."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you nervous." Blaze frowned, but to her surprise, Tails was smiling when he looked back at her.

"It's all right, Blaze. You know, you were pretty nervous yourself when we landed, and now you're calmed down and joking around."

"Yes, well. . ." Now it was Blaze's turn to look away. "It helps to be here with a good friend."

"Aww, thanks, Blaze. . ." Tails blushed, and both of them were silent for a moment. Rumbling stomachs reminded each of them how hungry they were, and after an awkward laugh, they both ate quickly. Tails paid for the meal, and both of them got up, now with quite a few observers, although no one went up to talk to them. Tails turned left and pointed down the sidewalk. "The parts shop is right over there. I don't suppose you want to go in, would you?" Blaze shook her head. "Okay. I won't be more than a couple of minutes. The city's pretty big, and it's easy to get lost, I've done it myself. Just, don't wander off." Blaze nodded and stood outside the diner as Tails dashed down to the parts store. Blaze followed his trail for a few steps, but he soon disappeared into the store. She began to wander around and take in the sights when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. A strong voice that Blaze could not place whispered into her ear.

"Well, well. . . such a pretty girl. . . never seen YOU around before." Blaze froze up, and her eyes went wide. "And it seems you're with Tails. . . but I'd like to get to know you, too. . ."


End file.
